Kelly, of A Messy Kitchen, our host kitchen for the month, tells us this is a very old recipe. In her description it says that the starter sits for 7 hours, then the bread rises for 7 hours, then it bakes for 7 hours, then it lasts for…. Oh, go on over and read it yourself. It really is rather interesting.

As to the Babes – go see what they did, then go to A Messy Kitchen for more info,the recipe and the details for being a Bread Baking Buddy this month.

Comments

Oatmeal…that was breakfast this morning and will be again tomorrow. But I’ve just poured boiling water over another batch of rye flakes and am baking again tomorrow! It is easy to put together and a bread to look forward to slicing.

Did you put dates in your oatmeal, Tanna? (The benchmark oatmeal porridge for me was the one that my Godmother made on her woodburning stove at their cottage with zero electricity on a little lake that disallowed any motorized boats in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. We walked down to the lake with big pails to get water.)

Ah lovely to see all this delicious bread! And it was delicious too! (We had the last of it toasted for breakfast this morning.)

It’s true, Katie. Porridge can indeed be thin and bland. And I can never shake the vision of the watert gruel that I always picture when I read the Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist”:

” The room in which the boys were fed, was a large stone hall, with a copper at one end: out of which the master, dressed in an apron for the purpose, and assisted by one or two women, ladled the gruel at mealtimes. Of this festive composition each boy had one porringer, and no more — except on occasions of great public rejoicing, when he had two ounces and a quarter of bread besides. […] [T]he gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared; the boys whispered each other, and winked at Oliver; while his next neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity: ‘Please, sir, I want some more.'”

Tanna, the oatmeal we get here is quite fine – like instant oatmeal in the US. None of these steel-cut oats like I used to eat. Still better than cream of wheat lol

Elizabeth, ah, the good old days. I had an aunt that did all of her cooking on a wood burner. She was a fantastic baker and I never knew how she did it. Cookies and pies and pastries and breads – all perfect,